Yulien (Janice) Tso

Yulien (Janice) Tso

Experienced Compositor for Films and Commercials

Senior Digital Compositor / Compositing Tutor / 19 yrs

Santa Clara, CA

Hire Me

Compositor

300: Rise of an Empire (2014)

Lead Paint Artist / Compositor

World War Z (2013)

Nuke Compositor

Skyfall (2012)

Visual Effects Compositor

Bear (2012)

Stereo Paint/Prep Artist

John Carter (2012)

stereoscopic compositor

Life of Pi (2012)

Senior Compositor

The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland (1999)

Digital Artist

Wild Things (1998)

The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)

Digital Artist

Mulholland Falls (1996)

Digital Artist

Cutthroat Island (1995)

Visual Effects Artist

Fubar

I'm an experienced compositor with graphic design background. Organization, problem solving, and affinity to aesthetics are second nature to me, which is why I enjoy this line of work so much.

I started doing compositing in mid-1990's, which allowed me to learn about and experience the transition from optical to digital visual effects. After a hiatus from 2000 to 2007 in order to take care of family and earned a Master's degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine in the mean time, I returned to visual effects after a serious of opportunities. The first of which was a contract with The Foundry, assisting in the user interface design for Nuke's commercial release. I learned Nuke then and fell in love with the application. The experience at The Foundry also provided me a deeper understanding of Nuke, which is helpful in using the tools more efficiently.

While I started out as a compositor for films, in recent years I've also done some commercials, even a couple of notable VR projects. I like to keep my skills up to date to be ready for new challenges. And I'm always excited to be working with other talented artists on interesting projects.
Work History

  • Nuke Compositor

    Crafty Apes

    August 2021 - Present
    Los Angeles, CA

  • Nuke Compositor

    Dupe VFX

    August 2019 - November 2019
    London, UK

    Composited for a film project that mainly consisted ocean/water works. Acted as assistant Lead for some sequences. Trained new compositors.

  • VFX Tutor

    Pearson College London

    September 2018 - June 2019
    London, United Kingdom

  • Nuke Compositor

    Zoic Studios

    September 2017 - May 2018
    Culver City, California, US

  • nuke compositor

    Encore VFX

    July 2017 - September 2017
    Burbank, CA

    Compositing for various episodic projects.

  • Nuke Compositor

    Zoic Studios

    July 2017 - July 2017
    Culver City, CA

    Compositing for episodic TV projects such as Manhunt: Unabomber, Claws, and Futureman.

  • Nuke Compositor

    MPC

    May 2017 - June 2017

  • Nuke Compositor

    Zoic Studios

    August 2016 - April 2017
    Los Angeles, CA

    Compositor on episodics. Currently assigned to Once Upon a Time. Compositing live footage as well as CG and stock elements to create VFX sequences.

  • Compositor

    Carbon VFX

    August 2016 - August 2016

  • Compositor / Nuke & Ocula Trainer

    Freelancer

    September 2007 - July 2016

    Freelance Nuke/Ocula Demo Artist for The Foundry & Nuke/Ocula Trainer at various post production facilities and educational institutes.

  • Nuke Compositor

    MPC

    November 2015 - July 2016
    Los Angeles, CA

    Working with Flame artists and supervisors on various commercials and commercial campaigns, as well as VR projects.

  • Compositing Trainer

    MPC

    April 2015 - October 2015
    Bangalore, India

    Developed and conducted compositing training for the advertising team to upgrade the artists' skills to handle more sophisticated projects.

  • Lecturer, Compositing for VFX

    Escape Studios

    November 2013 - October 2014

    Escape Studios offers both full-time (all day) and part-time (evening) programs, as well as a year-long on-line mentored program. In my position as a Lecturer for the Compositing for VFX courses I was involved with all three. While at Escape I:

    • Developed courseware for the year-long online mentored compositing course. This course covers all the technical (Nuke) and artistic skills required in a compositor's typical work, like color grading, keying, 3D camera projections, warping/morphing, roto & paint, and integration of CG and live action.

    • Redevel

  • Nuke Compositor

    Framestore

    July 2013 - September 2013

    Compositor for various projects including Sony Bravia 4K spot and Tooned McLaren animations.

    • Mainly Nuke, some Silhouette.

    • Typical high-end commercials work requiring keying, plate cleanup, 3D projections, and integration of CG with live action plates.

    • Worked on both live action+CG shots as well as all-CG shots.

    • Created matte painting backgrounds for several shots.

    • Particularly complex shots included 4K Bravia shots of flower petals falling into and flowing down a river. For these shots I selected and combined elements from multiple plates

  • CG Specialist

    Escape Studios

    June 2013 - July 2013

    A 4-week contract to review Escape Studio's online Mentored Compositing course. Provided summary, analysis, feedback, and suggestions which contributed to the development and upgrade of the course.

  • Cinesite

    November 2012 - June 2013

  • Compositor

    Cinesite

    May 2013 - June 2013

    Nuke Compositor for "300: Rise of an Empire" performing various tasks such as layout and keying.

  • Lead Paint Artist

    Cinesite

    November 2012 - April 2013

    Lead Paint Artist for World War Z stereo conversion which required creating & extending plates for multi-plane projection setups on about 250 shots.

    • Involved in interviewing for staffing a team of 6.

    • Responsible for scheduling the team for a successful on-time completion of work.

    • Trained and managed the team working in Silhouette and Nuke, including several members who had no prior work experience doing paint prep or using Silhouette.

    • Worked directly with stereographer Angus Cameron to estimate time and work required for shots, to review work

  • Nuke Compositor

    Framestore

    February 2012 - October 2012

    Nuke Compositor in the Commercial Department. Notable work included:

    • A large European television commercial campaign involving multiple regional versions of multiple products. This involved everything from straightforward label replacements to hand-assembled replacement and augmentation of fruit on the set using elements from stills and other plates.

    • Complicated matte extractions and cleanup for the Skyfall film title sequence.

    • Matte painting and stitching live action and 3D projected elements for visual effects shots in Hummingbird.

    • Warping

  • Stereo Paint/Prep Artist

    Cinesite

    October 2011 - January 2012

    Nuke artist in the stereo department for John Carter project.

    • Separated final 2D shots into separate plates for use in Cinesite's in-house multi-plane stereo conversion system using patch tracking and warping and manual paint in Silhouette and Nuke.

    • Trained several juniors in the use of Silhouette.

  • VFX Stereo Compositor

    Haishang Films

    November 2010 - May 2011

    Working in the VFX production office at the Taiwan set of Life of Pi, I assisted the stereographer (Brian Gardner) with stereo visualization of concept art and worked under the VFX Producer and Supervisor to produce test and post-viz comps using Nuke and Ocula.

  • Compositor

    Various

    January 1999 - June 2000
    Los Angeles, CA

    Compositing for various film projects and a couple of commercials.

  • Compositor

    D.Rez / CRC

    January 1995 - December 1998
    Hollywood, CA

    Compositing for various film projects and title sequences. Working directly with Supervisors and on occasions, directors.

  • Quantel DOMINO Artist

    Centro Digital Pictures Ltd.

    June 1995 - June 1995
    Hong Kong, Hong Kong

    Compositing and DOMINO consultant /trainer for the film "The Umbrella Story".

  • Graphic Artist

    Various

    June 1985 - January 1995
    Los Angeles, CA

    Full-time and freelance graphic artist for printing industry and graphic designers. Projects included logo, publication, advertisement, and package designs.

  • Quantel DOMINO Operator

    RGB Optical, Inc.

    October 1994 - December 1994
    Burbank, CA

    Operated film scanner, film recorder, and DOMINO workstation for image restoration and matte creation.

View All Positions
Education

  • Master of Science in Traditional Chinese Medicine

    American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine

    August 2002 - December 2004

  • Yo San University of Traditional Chinese Medicine

    September 2000 - July 2002

  • Business of Science in Business Information Systems

    California State University, Los Angeles

    January 1982 - May 1986